Dee Rocks KDKB’s Desert Invasion

Well, it’s the day after…and what a day it was…8 incredible bands lettin’ it fly in the wonderful 100+ degree May heat in Phoenix, AZ…we’ve needed an event here like this in a long time, and hopefully it will evolve into a yearly event. Dee was an incredible host, and despite the blazing temperatures, a great time was had by all. Bang Tango kick-started the festivities, and sounded great…they used some local boys to round out the band, but in no way did that deter from their brand of raunch ‘n roll…

Bulletboys followed, and I almost didn’t recognize Marq Torien – JET BLACK HAIR these days! I can honestly say this about all the bands on the bill, but it sounds like they never stopped recording and touring…great show, even tho they didn’t do ‘Shoot The Preacher Down’…maybe next time, guys…but ‘Smooth Up In Ya’ and ‘Hard As A Rock’ were definitely highlights – they even opened up with a killer version of AC/DC’s ‘Riff Raff’ – killer stuff.

At this time, I must mention the awesome staff at the venue; food, security, medical, law enforcement (I only saw one person being forceably ejected…the officers were personable and clearly not there to give anybody any crap…hats off guys…wait…don’t…the top of your head would be as badly burned as mine is today – but I digress)…and don’t forget the awesome stage hands. The time gap between bands was usually 25-30 minutes, and that’s all…it was a very tightly run event, and congrats to everyone involved. And then there was Trixter…talk about a fun live band. I always considered them to be one of those hair-bands that were more pop-ish, and catered more to girls than ‘real’ headbangers, but my opinion of them changed yesterday…some of the best guitar solos of the day, hands down…how can you not love L.A.Guns? Especially when Tracii Guns plays 2 sets during the day? (yep…he played with Bulletboys too…) – I can’t understand why this band didn’t get more props and success back in the day…great songs, great show…the ‘holy triumvirate’ of ‘One More Reason,’ ‘Ballad Of Jayne,’ and ‘Rip And Tear’ was obviously the crowning point, but their extended ‘Sex Action’ (the song, people…the SONG!) was intense…

I don’t know if the heat was killing the Phoenicians up until that point, but that was when I really saw more active crowd interaction with a band…and if you wanna talk about crowd interaction, then Kix is your band. Do yourselves a favor – if you’ve never seen Kix in concert, make sure you see them when they come to your area…absolutely, definitively, positively one of the best damn live bands I’ve ever seen (I last saw them open for Great White and Tesla when they toured for their ‘Blow My Fuse’ album…can ANYONE hook me up with that cd??? I can’t find it anywhere…I have it on vinyl only…dammit!) – this band just OWNS a stage when they get on it…period. Steve Whiteman is easily in my top 10 as one of the best frontmen in metal. He works a crowd like nobody’s business…even if he DID get beat out in the sing-a-long during ‘Cold Blood’ by no other than his good buddy, Dee Snider!! I’ll refrain from stating what Steve called Dee onstage at this time…! All the songs were there, and even stuff from their first couple of discs (I love their 1st album, and it was cool to hear ‘The Itch’) – the only one missing was ‘She Dropped Me The Bomb’ – and Steve was really the only one bitching about the heat…wimpy east coast rockers!!! (Just kidding, Steve…love you, man!) Just be thankful you weren’t playing in freaking June, when the heat REALLY levels you…Kix is awesome, and you need to check them out live. Now, this was supposed to be a ‘hair band’ weekend, but I noticed a lot of the guys are now sporting the ‘we’re reaching middle age, gotta cut the hair’ look…none more obvious than Firehouse vocalist C.J. Snare – did it make a difference? Hell NO! This guy has got a set of pipes that continue to blow me away…I never got the chance to see Firehouse back in the 80’s, so this was a real treat for me. They were frigging AWESOME. Most of the songs were from the 1st cd (‘Helpless’ started off the set, followed by ‘Lover’s Lane’ – cool!!! 2 of the most underrated songs from their 1st..) but, of course, you have to have ‘All She Wrote,’ ‘Don’t Treat Me Bad’ – the set ender – and that ol’ tear jerker ‘Love Of A Lifetime’ – they were phenomenal. (Yeah, I probably spelled that wrong…)

Glad to see that Firehouse (as well as ALL of these bands) are still plowing along…little did I know that Skid Row (and no offense here at all) without Sebastian Bach at the vocal helm would be as ass-kicking as they were last night…oh…my…GOD!!! I’ve loved this band since I heard the first chord of ‘Youth Gone Wild.’ And they didn’t disapoint…they rocked so damn hard that I was getting cuts from the shrapnel flying from the stage…one song after another, the crowd was going absolutely nuts by this time (yeah…a bunch of 40-sometings going nuts…scaaaaary, but true!!! – maybe due in part that the sun was down had something to do with it as well!!!) – this band continues to kick ass, and I really hope something new from them will be recorded…

now, I’m gonna admit MY wimpy-ness here…I left after Skid Row. I love Night Ranger, but I was spent…8+ hours in that heat just got to me…

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